Well everything that Courage Campaign was worried about seems to be happening as the Los Angeles ballot issue turns into a full debacle. The San Francisco Chronicle is is running with the story and raising the question of how long this ballot has been in use.

Reactions from many of the players involved can be found on the flip, but here's the short version. Given the convoluted delegate system in California, a lot of delegates on the Democratic side could potentially be impacted by voting irregularities in Los Angeles county. And since the Democratic race appears to be destined to remain deadlocked for quite some time, this mess may stretch on for quite a while as delegate counts are fought over by interests that stretch way beyond Los Angeles County. That's the pragmatism. The principle is that the law should be followed and people should be allowed to vote.

Everybody talks a bunch on the flip.

The Obama campaign has been all over this. They had a conference call earlier today, sent at least one email out to the mailing list, and issued special instructions to precinct captains throughout Los Angeles. Dave Dayen, who was on the conference call, reports that, according to the campaign, , DTS voters have been denied ballots in select counties throughout the state.

Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo (who supports Obama, if it matters), issued a statement on the matter earlier today saying in part:

"In light of these reports, I am calling upon Secretary of State Debra Bowen and L.A. County Registrar Dean Logan to review the county's unique and potentially confusing ballot design.

"It would be unfortunate if non-partisan voters, confused by the county's unique "double bubble" ballot design, did not have their vote counted.

"I urge the Secretary of State and County Registrar to do everything within their power to ensure that every vote is counted, and to carefully weigh voter intent against this confusing Los Angeles County ballot design.

"Los Angeles' non-partisan voters must not be disenfranchised because of a confusing ballot design."

Clinton's campaign, meanwhile, has been shockingly dismissive of concerns over irregularities. From the Chronicle article:

But Averell "Ace" Smith, campaign manager for California campaign of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, said he is mystified by the Election Day complaints from the Obama team, since the rules for decline to state voters - specifically the requirement that request Democratic ballots - have been a matter of public record posted on the California Secretary of State's web site for months.

"Every California campaign has known the ground rules on this for three months," he said. "I can't imagine why they waited until 2 pm. on Election Day to wake up ... it strikes me as strange. If you wait until the last minute to complain, they must really be worried we're going to win."

"We've certainly worked with our voters for months and months" to educate them on the process, he said. "They're blaming other people for not having done their homework...this is is nothing more than a cynical attempt to create confusion."

Mr. Smith may also want to note that the Los Angeles ballots violate the law. It's disconcerting to say the least that the Clinton campaign would be so nonchalant about such concerns.

But this goes well beyond what individual campaigns might do or not do. Kim Alexander, president of the California Voter Foundation, discussed the ramifications with the Pasadena Star-News. Alexander noted that this all in response to concerns raised by the Courage Campaign

"There could be legal challenges. Both parties will award delegate votes to their candidates based on results by congressional district and Los Angeles County is home to a dozen congressional districts. So it could impact a lot of delegate votes, depending on how close the results are by congressional district."

Alexander said more than a quarter of the state's registered voters live in Los Angeles County and the issue has the potential to alter statewide presidential primary results.

"It really depends on how close the races are," Alexander said. "It could lead to legal contests. This issue is one of the more serious issues that has arisen around the state. There is a lot of confusion about 'Decline-to-State' voters."

Also in that article, Paul Drugan (director of media relations for the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder's Office) basically called the concerns irrelevant and anecdotal:

"I don't think it's a widespread problem," Drugan said. "Is it going on? Are some voters confused? Yes, they are. Is it widespread or systemic? I don't think that it is."